'Thunberging': The new dating trend you need to know about

Climate change is having a pretty big effect on our lives right now.

From impacting our decisions about having a family (one in 10 young couples cited climate change as their reason for deciding against children), to our wardrobes and our wallets.

And now our dedication to protecting the environment is infiltrating the dating world by spawning a new trend - ‘Thunberging’.

According to OKCupid, who coined the term, ‘Thunberging’ is where daters bond over their shared passion for environmental issues.

Named after climate change activist Greta Thunberg, of course, Thunberging effectively refers to singletons connecting over their desire to make a difference environmentally.

The dating website says that as well as seeing a 240% increase in mentions of climate change and other environmental terms on dating profiles in the last two years, in 2019 there was a whopping 800% increase in mentions of Greta Thunberg specifically.

Figures from the dating site survey also reveal that 51% of respondents in 2019 ranked climate change as the most important issue to them, up from 34% of respondents in 2009 and 2014.

“With climate change becoming a major talking point globally, we're finding more and more people's passion for the planet is becoming a steamy subject,” a spokesperson for OkCupid says.

“It's no surprise to learn that young Gen Z and millennial daters care about climate change, but within the last year alone, these singletons are matching on the basis of this topic more than ever.”

Apparently the site’s in-app question asking people if they are concerned about climate change was one of the most answered questions of 2019.

“And there's been over 4 million responses to our questions on climate change and the environment,” they add.

“With this new phenomenon continuing to intensify around the globe, OkCupid is coining this trend 'Thunberging' due to an 800% increase in mentions of Greta Thunberg on OkCupid profiles around the world last year, highlighting the impact she has had on younger generations around the world.

“Who better to represent this powerful movement towards climate change activism than Greta herself?”

Well you know what they say, the couple that saves the world together, stays together.

It isn’t the first dating trend that has been spawned recently. Last summer, Metro warned about a phenomenon known as ‘paperclipping’, which describes receiving a friendly message from an old flame - who ghosted you after a couple of dates - months down the line without any explanation.

And this festive period we had to watch out for ‘snowmanning’, where a cold-weather flirtation melts into nothing as soon as the Christmas decorations come down.

Match-making app Plenty Of Fish also recently detailed some of the romantic pitfalls to beware of this year.

They include ‘Fleabagging’, inspired by Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s iconic character, where you consistently date people who are unsuitable for you.

Words by Marie Claire Dorking